[BIG POPPA]

Wow what a great meet , getting on a boat, will post more later

 

[DrForBin]

hello,
 
BottleHeadquarters is a wonderful place to hold a meet!
 
i want to thank everybody who showed up, and a BIG shout out to the good folks at BottleHead, you absolutely kick ass!
 
meets at this venue are really special, the hosts are wonderful, the folks that show up are committed (or perhaps commit-able), as it is a bit of a drag to haul stuff from the Big City, only the best shows up.
 
things i cannot live without:
 
stock (!!!) Sennheiser HD 600's.
 
Big Poppa's magical HD650's. (what's up with that cable?

)
 
the modded HD 800's with all those lovely electronics in the front room (oh my ******* god! best of show for me.) Etta James for the win.
 
the Massdrop/Fostex TH-X00 mahogany version. (lovely cans, sound yummy.)
 
(that pair of Slants.)
 
Curbfeeler's Audize's. there's a reason why they never touched my head this time around, i think i like them a little bit TOO much.
 
MrsForBin cannot live without:
 
BeyerDynamic DT880-600 ohm, as they had her swaying to WCM.
 
Oppo PM-3 for pretty much the same reason (thanks Bill!)
 
please, we need badges so i can actually thank people who let us listen to such fantastic gear!
 
a great time was had by all.

 

[Supa Mint]

My first meet was really a lot of fun, and an amazing experience.  I'm already looking forward to the next one.
 
Thanks Big Poppa for coordinating the event.  I regret not getting a chance to formally meet you; and demo your rig.
 
Highlights:
Meeting Doc B and Queen Eileen - thanks for being such fantastic hosts.
Getting to play in the play room - those plutonium tubes were enchanting
Talking to Stan and hearing about his experiences
HD-800 with a gorgeous tube setup that sounded awesome
 
Regrets:
Not listening to more of the equipment - especially the Liquid Fire setup (I really wanted to hear that).
Not meeting more of you.
 
Looking forward to next time!!
 
Erick

 

[Doc B.]

Thanks for the kind words, and thanks to everyone who came and put up with me being a little out of it from being cooped up in a studio for a week.
 
One system of several that caught my ear was the Schiit stack. Kudos to Jason and Mike for some really nice sounds.
 
Link below outta respek - (danger Will Robinson! NSFW, uncensored)
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2FiYq55oac

 

[Muziqboy]

  Thanks for the kind words, and thanks to everyone who came and put up with me being a little out of it from being cooped up in a studio for a week.
 
One system of several that caught my ear was the Schiit stack. Kudos to Jason and Mike for some really nice sounds.
 
Link below outta respek - (danger Will Robinson! NSFW, uncensored)
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2FiYq55oac

 Can't stop laughing my ass off watching this video!
Thanks Big Poppa for another well organized event as usual.
Thanks Doc B and Queen Eileen for being such wonderful hosts and opening up your place for all the attendees.
 
It was my first visit to Bottlehead and me and my friends were like kids in a candy store seeing all the amps on display. I will never forget that glorious sound that I heard coming out of the K1000 fed by the reel-to-reel tape machine upstairs, that to me was well worth the trip to Bottlehead. The place was packed and I did not have a chance to listen to some of the other gears since it was being used all the time but I know there's always a next time.
 
See you all on the next meet.

 

[BIG POPPA]

The meet was incredible on a few points. Best hosts on the planet. Doc B and Queen Eileen just show so much love to us Seattle Head-fiers. Best place to start the season, We take a boat to go to the meet. How awesome is that? How many peeps took a cab from the ferry? That was a first. There were a few cab's bringing Peeps's to the meet. Monolith Amp, 'nuff said. The Bottlehead listening salon is just amazing. The gear Seattle Head-fiers bring is dialed in, even the noob's.
Doc B and I were getting schooled on Uber Engineer Grade Software.
We don't use name tags usually up here because it like hey Stan, How ya doing Bob, What's up chingon, Eric, you gotta listen to me rig, He says no , you have to listen to mine!!! Hey Hammy, how was the drive from pdx, Whats up Tim, When is your gear coming in Joseph. JJ where is your hat.(he left it there),  Hey Olivia, listen to this. Mark check this out.  What's up Levi. Glen what should I be drinking? Everyone knows everyone for the most part.
To hear about Doc B's week long trip to Skywalker Studio was cool as hell. I asked him "how was Disneyland?" Queen Eileen just makes you feel so welcome. She is just so genuinely happy to meet and greet everybody.
The weather was just perfect. for the meet. Carpooling with a few Head-fiers just makes it more fun, because you can talk about this stuff till you are blue in the face, and its OK. And we did.
DrForBin, it was such a treat to tweak your rig. I did ask permission first. It was awesome you brought your wife and son. My son is 9 and has Senns loves them but he can care less about all this Head-fi stuff.
Where was Soundsgoodtome?
Hotel California on Eagle's "Hell Freezes Over" is my new audition track. Thanks Eric, when you had a "Jesus" moment on your rig at a secret meet. Thought I better check that out.
This meet did motivate me to make my rig better. Kinda went overboard.........
Just a few thoughts

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

Sounds like I missed out, first time in 2 years I think. My amp made it via Atomic Bob's lite-rig with his lab grade LPS so I was there in spirit. One thing that separates his rig are measurements; not only do they sound fantastic you can see it on the numbers.

Portland next week though!

Where are the pics?

 

[MKTRV6]

Great Meet and good time had by all.
 
Thanks to the crew at Bottlehead!  So kind of you to host this event!  Sincerely, very gracious of you all.  It was nice to have enough room to spread out and it seemed like everyone had enough space for their rigs.  Heck, Big Poppa took a whole room just for himself. 

 
Doc B.'s Tape Project source and special amp through the AKG K1000 was breathtaking.  I thought the Crackatua (sp?) was also very fine and something to consider for a spot on my shelf!
 
Bimmer100 and Musiqboy were schooling me on the phase (polarity?) flipping method to give the amp a little more headroom.  It sure sounded good on both their systems.  Bimmer100 also was using the SonarWorks software I believe, which tamed the HD-800 quite nicely.  
 
As always, time went by quickly and I thought later that I should have spent more time at this or that table.  But, I learned a ton and have some ideas to upgrade my system that I'm always working to improve.
 
Thanks to all that participated.  What a blast!!
 
It's All Good.

 

[BIG POPPA]

Alright peeps, where are the pic's? I know there was a slr camera there. And some thoughts from some of the newer head-fiers would be awesome. Just a thought in head.

 

[gefski]

Alright peeps, where are the pic's? I know there was a slr camera there. And some thoughts from some of the newer head-fiers would be awesome. Just a thought in head.

In the best seat in the house, just prior to listening to Bill Evans Trio come back to life.

 

[Ham Sandwich]

  My first meet was really a lot of fun, and an amazing experience.  I'm already looking forward to the next one.
 
Thanks Big Poppa for coordinating the event.  I regret not getting a chance to formally meet you; and demo your rig.
 
Highlights:
Meeting Doc B and Queen Eileen - thanks for being such fantastic hosts.
Getting to play in the play room - those plutonium tubes were enchanting
Talking to Stan and hearing about his experiences
HD-800 with a gorgeous tube setup that sounded awesome
 
Regrets:
Not listening to more of the equipment - especially the Liquid Fire setup (I really wanted to hear that).
Not meeting more of you.
 
Looking forward to next time!!
 
Erick

 
Don't worry. I'll bring the Liquid Fire setup to future meets. You'll get to hear it eventually. I like the sound quality and sound style it does. And I'm liking the way the Schiit Gungnir Multibit synergizes with that. It's a style of headphone sound that puts me into a good place. Not only does it sound good it feels good with a nice sense of headphone space to the sound.
 
I don't try to listen to everything at a meet. Even a small meet like this one. There is just not enough time. If you do try to listen to everything it all ends up overloading the brain and ears. Most of the setups will show up at later local meets. So if you miss something it will likely be back at a later meet.
 
The HD800 on the Decware Taboo tube amp is awesome. It was setup in the room by the front door. So awesome. Such a nice sound and it tames the HD800.

 

[Supa Mint]

   
Don't worry. I'll bring the Liquid Fire setup to future meets. You'll get to hear it eventually. I like the sound quality and sound style it does. And I'm liking the way the Schiit Gungnir Multibit synergizes with that. It's a style of headphone sound that puts me into a good place. Not only does it sound good it feels good with a nice sense of headphone space to the sound.
 
I don't try to listen to everything at a meet. Even a small meet like this one. There is just not enough time. If you do try to listen to everything it all ends up overloading the brain and ears. Most of the setups will show up at later local meets. So if you miss something it will likely be back at a later meet.
 
The HD800 on the Decware Taboo tube amp is awesome. It was setup in the room by the front door. So awesome. Such a nice sound and it tames the HD800.

 
Great!  I was hoping that I'd get another chance.  It looks like you also have the Liquid Carbon?  I'd be curious to get your impressions about how they compare.
 
Yes, it was the Decware amp with the HD800 - thanks for identifying that, since I didn't catch it during the audition.  I'd love to spend an afternoon with that setup!
 
I'm still not sure what the best way to audition equipment is at these meets.  The quality of equipment is so great, that I'm not sure about what I can ascertain from the brief auditions.  There are a lot of variables to incorporate, so I struggle to determine what I'm hearing.  Is it the headphone, the amp, the DAC, the cables, the source, the recording?  Do you have a technique that you use to analyze these setup?
 
Thanks again to everyone.  It was a really great experience, for a number of reasons.
 
-Erick

 

[Doc B.]

  Do you have a technique that you use to analyze these setup?
 

Listen to everything you can lay your ears on. Over time you will develop the skill of determining which component is contributing what elements to the sound you are hearing. A good way to start is bring gear you are familiar with to the meet and borrow someone's headphones, source or whatever to try in your setup and listen for differences. Ask other people what they hear and see if you hear the same thing. Remain skeptical of things others hear that you can't hear. There's no real shortcut to learning how to listen.

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

+1, this exactly.

Listen to everything you can lay your ears on. Over time you will develop the skill of determining which component is contributing what elements to the sound you are hearing. A good way to start is bring gear you are familiar with to the meet and borrow someone's headphones, source or whatever to try in your setup and listen for differences. Ask other people what they hear and see if you hear the same thing. Remain skeptical of things others hear that you can't hear. There's no real shortcut to learning how to listen.

 

[Ham Sandwich]

   
Great!  I was hoping that I'd get another chance.  It looks like you also have the Liquid Carbon?  I'd be curious to get your impressions about how they compare.
 
Yes, it was the Decware amp with the HD800 - thanks for identifying that, since I didn't catch it during the audition.  I'd love to spend an afternoon with that setup!
 
I'm still not sure what the best way to audition equipment is at these meets.  The quality of equipment is so great, that I'm not sure about what I can ascertain from the brief auditions.  There are a lot of variables to incorporate, so I struggle to determine what I'm hearing.  Is it the headphone, the amp, the DAC, the cables, the source, the recording?  Do you have a technique that you use to analyze these setup?
 
Thanks again to everyone.  It was a really great experience, for a number of reasons.
 
-Erick

 
It is difficult to figure out what is going on where there are so many variables involved. One thing you can do is attempt to eliminate some of the variables. If I'm trying an amp and DAC I may bring over one of my headphones and use that headphone to try to hear and figure out what the amp and DAC are doing. That eliminates an unknown headphone from the equation. If I'm curious about a particular headphone I'll ask if I can bring it over to my amp. That way I can try the headphones on an amp and DAC I'm familiar with. Otherwise, just listen to the setups that are there.
 
For music you can bring a USB thumb drive with FLAC and ALAC files with a few songs you find good for demoing gear. It's a bit difficult though on some setups to figure out how to play music off the thumb drive. And do ask the owner of the computer first if you can plug in a thumb drive and to also get some help in getting the software and computer to play the music on the thumb drive. You can also bring a CD-R that has demo songs. However, fewer and fewer people are bringing CD players to meets. Most people are bringing a computer as source now.
 
I got the Liquid Carbon to be a smallish transportable amp. It's a balanced amp. The single-ended connections are there for convenience rather than presenting the best sound quality from the amp. You have to be prepared to use the balanced connections. Otherwise the amp isn't doing what it was designed to do. Use balanced headphones, and it's best to use the balanced connections on the back. So you should have a balanced source as well. It delivers a flavor of the smooth Cavalli sound. And that's what I like. It's just a tease though in comparison to the bigger Cavalli amps. Bass is a bit thin when driving ortho headphones. Soundstage layering and depth is good, but I still want better. But it's all still good. What it does is deliver a taste of Cavalli sound and I like that. I still need to get a balanced cable for my HD600/HD650 for use with the Liquid Carbon. I've been lazy and haven't gotten the cable yet.